.357 Lever Action Rifles

[Germster]

While posts here have been about the rifle, I think it's appropriate to mention that the .357 shot from a rifle is an excellent hunting round. I'm not an SASS shooter and my .357 rifle is not a lever gun, but a Ruger No 1 and it eats all .38 caliber ammo that I can cram into it, from .38 S&W short to hot .357 loads. It is my favorite rifle. Too bad Ruger only made a few of them.

Back in the day the 38/40 was a popular round and the .357 mag is it today and much more.

 

[woodsong]

My Rossi has no problem with .38 rounds.

 

[greyling22]

+1 to red cent and dpris.
I prefer my old marlin 1894c to my stubby 16" rossi, but the rossi sure is a lighter and handier package. Both guns benefit immensly from a little action work. The marlin is simple, the rossi a bit of a pain. neither one really likes 38's that much, but the rossi does a little better with a semi wadcutter. My 1894 in 44 mag feeds a SWC nicely, so I don't know what the deal is there. If I was buying new right now, I'd get a rossi. I had terrible qc issues with my marlin 1894css I bought this year, sent 2 back before they just gave me a refund. But if you can find a nice 1894, snap it up and I doubt you will ever let it go. (which is why they're scarce on the used market)

 

[stiab]

I have fired a few .38 Specials in my 1894, but found that the POI was so different from factory .357's that it was not even fun to plink with them. Even at 50 yards, which the rifle is sighted in for with a 2.75 Redfield scope, the .38's were nowhere close, falling far short. Anybody else notice this?

 

[greyling22]

haven't noticed it, but it wouldn't surprise me. you're talking about around 30% more velocity and maybe a different bullet weight.

 

[grgvntlnd]

I dropped off the Marlin 1894 at the smith this morning. We will see in 4 to 6 weeks. Both 38s and 357s of ball hang up when coming out of the tube with the lever still nearly vertical. To free them you need to reach in the side with a knife or a screwdriver and pull them a little farther back at which point they load normally.

I bought the gun in the late 90s and assumed the the feeding issues were due to screws working loose on the road as i have to drive for 2 hours before it is legal to plink. I just recently went through it and put lock tight on everything and I am still having the issues. I should have made the time to shoot it enough to resolve these issues while it was still covered under warranty.

In spite of these issues, if the smith can make it work it will probably be my favorite plinking gun. It is a lot of fun with 357s and when it is working everyone wants to shoot it. If I were to do it over now that I am reloading I would probably go with a 44 or 45/70 and load them down some. 38s in this gun are a little under whelming.

I currently have it sighted in 2 inches high with 357s at 50 yards and that works out to about 2 inches low with 38s. I will probably change that to zeroed at 75 yards with 357 and quit using 38s, as quite a bit of carbon comes back around the case when using the shorter 38s.

 

[J_McLeod]

I had a Marlin .357 lever rifle back in 02 and it shot everything with no problems. Wish I hadn't sold it.

 

[bergmen]

I dropped off the Marlin 1894 at the smith this morning. We will see in 4 to 6 weeks. Both 38s and 357s of ball hang up when coming out of the tube with the lever still nearly vertical. To free them you need to reach in the side with a knife or a screwdriver and pull them a little farther back at which point they load normally.

I bought the gun in the late 90s and assumed the the feeding issues were due to screws working loose on the road as i have to drive for 2 hours before it is legal to plink. I just recently went through it and put lock tight on everything and I am still having the issues. I should have made the time to shoot it enough to resolve these issues while it was still covered under warranty.

In spite of these issues, if the smith can make it work it will probably be my favorite plinking gun. It is a lot of fun with 357s and when it is working everyone wants to shoot it. If I were to do it over now that I am reloading I would probably go with a 44 or 45/70 and load them down some. 38s in this gun are a little under whelming.

I currently have it sighted in 2 inches high with 357s at 50 yards and that works out to about 2 inches low with 38s. I will probably change that to zeroed at 75 yards with 357 and quit using 38s, as quite a bit of carbon comes back around the case when using the shorter 38s.

This is the jam mode I had on my new 1894 in .45 Colt. It turns out the front edge of the carrier was sharp as a knife and was digging into the base of the next round in the magazine tube as it tried to lift the one that was in the carrier. Jammed the lever vertical.

I disassembled it and used a stone to round off the front edge (this part is hardened) by hand. It took awhile to smooth it off, I put maybe a .020 radius on the front edge.

This solved it, zero jams since after hundreds of rounds.

Dan

 

[Red Cent]

J. McLeod, show the gunsmith this.
Marauder's site has everything about a Marlin.

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/Marlin94Fix.html

 

[greyling22]

4 to 6 weeks?! it could probably be fixed in 14 to 16 minutes.

 

[Red Cent]

If it has the typical Marlin jam, it might take a smidgeon longer that 16 minutes, not 6 weeks.

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/Marlin94Fix.html

Coyote Cap's Cure (Coyote Cap is known worldwide for his work on the 97s. He is also the one who made up the 93s/97s with China and had them imorted. I Have one.)

"Take the lever off and the carrier out, place them back onto the OUTSIDE of the frame using the mounting screws and a piece of tape to seperate the parts from the frame (to prevent scratching the bluing).

Measure the distance from the pivot of the lever mounting screw to the offending point on the lever (where it contacts the bottom of the carrier) and write this measurement down.

Then using a flat file or belt sander, remove enough metal from that darn point to make it flat, instead of a point, then low amp wire weld the same area back up beyond the measurement and then file it back down to a large flat spot that will match the flat of the carrier.

Then weld the depression line in the carrier, (that was caused by the sharp point on the lever), back above what it should have been, then file or grind it back down to a nice flat surface once again.

What you will have done is to do what Marlin should have done years ago when they knew they had a problem with speed cycling the rifles, (get rid of that sharp point).
Why Marlin has not cured this problem, long ago, amazes me."
wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Folks, this problem has haunted Marlin owners for a loooonnng time. You would think that with all the posts on how to fix a Marlin, they would have noticed.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

"But I don't have a welder!!!??

Some folks have used other pieces of metal. They normally grind down the carrier to fit in another piece of hard metal. Some used JB Weld or a similar adhesive to attached hacksaw blades, others used two jig saw blades (with the teeth filed off).

Here's what Butcher John Remington did:
I went one better. I cut 2 strips of jig saw blade. (very hard steel) 1/2 " by about 1/8 " wide and removed the teeth. JB Welded them onto the bottom bottom plate where the carrier hit to keep the carrier up a little. Probably 6,000 rounds through it now and there is barely a mark on the pieces or steel and the problem never happened again."

 

[grgvntlnd]

I am pretty sure it is not the dreaded marlin jam. The gun has seen less than 500 rounds and has not had enough use to create the sort of wear required for that problem. It also never lets two rounds out of the tube.

I did read all of the forums and none of them seemed to match my issues. This did not surprise my wife and she was a little too happy when she noted that all of my issues are unique. It could possibly be the issue that Bergmen is describing as that seems to pretty well match my problems.

The smiths backlog runs about 2 weeks in hunting season and I dropped off my gun the day before his 2 week hunting trip. I have always been hesitant to file or sand on firearms based on the assumption that that would adversely affect the hardening of the part and eventually result in premature wearing of the part.

I had my 10-22s trigger apart and the pieces and a stone in hand when I made this decision. I realized that if I made the changes I would then need to figure out how to harden the part and then how to re-blue it to prevent rust. The smith has all of this siting there in his shop ready to go, so for me the little he charges is money well spent. I also like supporting local talent especially when they are practicing old trades that are seriously in decline today.

I appreciate everyone's input.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

I've got a late 70s Marlin 1894C in .357 that I bought here about 3 years ago, no hiccups to speak of in .357 or 38spcl. I trust it enough to leave it stoked next to my 870 for selective HD work.

 

[ejnogarb]

I have a Marlin 1894CSS from 2008 (I think), and it's the perfect gun. 100% reliable. It was one of the last ones made in the Marlin factory. I think once production began in Remington factories the QC went down.